Workington Town are into the fifth round of the Coral Challenge Cup after another close encounter with Newcastle Thunder.

In the end a drop-goal from the boot of Jamie Doran proved the difference between the two sides as Town took the game 21-20 at Derwent Park.

Workington got off to a much better start than the previous week and they struck first at the heart of the Newcastle defence.

As they closed in on the try line a neat little kick to the corner from Jamie Doran was collected by Scott Rooke and he touched down, with Carl Forber landing the conversion from the touchline.

Winger Rooke was then called on at the opposite end of the field to defend as he leapt up to deny Mo Agoro a try, collecting by the flag before just going into touch.

But Newcastle's persistence eventually paid off as Misi Taulapapa went over in the corner but Jy-Mel Coleman's kick was off target and Town still had the upper hand.

Town looked to put the pressure back on their visitors with a little kick from Karl Olstrom but Perry Singleton just couldn't reach it before it went dead.

And in the end it was Thunder who scraped back into the lead after a mix-up near the line allowed Keal Carlile to just tap it down for the try, leaving Coleman an easy conversion.

Carlile was held up again over the line moments later with some desperate defence before Forber was trapped behind the line, having to give away the drop-out.

Alex Rowe looked to use his power to go over the line from close range but he was denied by the referee who pulled him back for a double movement.

Singleton forced a drop-out in Workington's favour when he chased down a kick from Doran and Newcastle had to get the ball out quickly.

And they used their advantage well when a fumble by the Newcastle defender behind his own line was gratefully dropped on by Tyllar Mellor and with Forber adding the extras, Town were 12-10 to the good at the hooter.

The second half started in superb fashion for Town as Fuifui Moimoi drew in the defence and popped a perfect ball up for the supporting Sam Hopkins. The loose-forward then raced around 40-metres to the try line, with Forber tagging on the extras.

And Hopkins had another brilliant run created by the Tongan international moments later but this time Town could not find their way over the line.

The game got a lot closer after 56 minutes when Carlile went over from dummy-half and Coleman converted to bring it to within two points.

And moments later it got worse as Newcastle took the lead when they quickly whipped the ball out to the left hand side and Taulapapa went over for his second of the afternoon. The conversion was missed but Thunder had a two point advantage.

Town were feeling the pressure as Mo Agoro attacked again down the right hand side but as he stretched out for the line he was just pushed into touch.

Then a crucial piece of luck went their way as Thunder were penalised for slowing the play down and Forber slotted over the resulting goal to level the game at 20-20.

It went to the wire with both sides pushing forward as the clock ticked down but as Workington got a second set of six, they closed in on the Newcastle try line and Doran got himself into space to slot over a drop-goal.

Coleman had his own chance at a drop-goal at the opposite end of the field but it narrowly missed much to the delight of the home crowd and Town ran down the clock to take the victory and their place in the fifth round draw.